KEVIN SORBO CREATES A BIG BANG PERFORMANCE IN GOD'S NOT DEAD

rating: **1/2

In GOD’S NOT DEAD, Kevin Sorbo plays Professor Radisson, a college philosophy teacher who politely demands that his students write this movie’s title on paper before venturing further into his contemptuously biased course… So one kid winds up scribbling “god” with a small g, and wouldn’t it be humorous if Sorbo’s character asked if this referred to Hercules?

year: 2014

Well there’s another student who decides not to write down anything, and Josh Wheaton, played by a subtle yet effective Shane Harper, isn’t giving in… Despite the class being an important one, he'll put his future on the line and argue against the anti-God stance… And the prof takes him up on it… An understatement…

For what seems like the rest of the semester, young Wheaton is given the chance to argue the existence of God over the Big Bang Theory… Which is fine enough within a Christian movie, and the young actor in lecture mode, starting out like a flushed novice before getting more comfortable "on stage," is effective… But what’s completely unrealistic is there’s no longer any philosophy class at all... The entire semester becomes Wheaton addressing the students while Radisson looks on with a cocky grin: How on Earth does he hand out grades?

In the antagonist role, Sorbo’s performance is surprisingly good and, in the personality department, to use a collegiate term, highly persuasive – and he’s not the only 90’s TV hero in the mix… Also on board is SUPERMAN Dean Cain as a jerky businessman... like the other "villains," including a strict Muslim father, he's far from Christian… Especially Cain's girlfriend, an Internet reporter who loathes DUCK DYNASTY and then, after finding out she has cancer, begins to question her own non-belief. 

While the ending, taking place at a Christian rock band's concert, is corny and predictably propagandist, and Radisson's fate provides a much too easy out (while tying loose ends with a side-character pastor), our two persistent leads – the Christian student and the Atheist teacher – make GOD’S NOT DEAD an entertaining debate… for either side.